The gym was cold, quiet, and empty — perfect for testing dangerous things.
Kael stood in front of Eon, arms crossed, eyes like steel. "Your power isn't just energy. It's data, memory, instinct. You need to learn how to process it."
Eon nodded, trying to stay calm. He could feel something humming in his chest — like a tiny storm trapped inside him.
"Focus on pulling one thing," Kael said. "Just one."
Eon raised his hand.
The air bent.
A floating sphere appeared — flickering and unstable. It pulsed like a heartbeat gone wrong.
Kael's eyes widened. "Stop. That's not what I—"
But Eon couldn't stop.
The sphere cracked open.
Kael jumped forward, slamming his hand against Eon's shoulder. The glow died.
Eon gasped. "What… what was that?"
Kael looked worried for the first time.
"That wasn't your power," he said quietly. "It was something hiding inside it."
Eon's palm glowed again. A message blinked faintly.
System Alert: Unknown Function Activated
Do Not Attempt Retrieval Without Clearance
Kael stepped back.
"Someone built this into you. Someone… or something."
Eon shivered.
And far above them, in a chamber of glass and fire, a masked figure watched the moment play out — smiling behind a wall of godlight.
The silence after the alert was louder than any alarm.
Kael didn't move. "Whatever that was, it wasn't a bug," he said slowly. "It was written. Designed."
Eon stared at his glowing palm. "By who?"
Kael didn't answer.
Instead, he turned to the wall, tapped a hidden panel, and it slid open with a hiss. Inside was a cold, silver server pulsing with pale blue light. A message scrolled across its surface:
Data Fragment 431B: Archive Lock Breach Detected
Architect Authorization Required
Eon stepped closer. His vision flickered. Suddenly he wasn't in the gym.
He was... somewhere else.
Surrounded by metal pillars and shifting code.
A voice echoed.
"You're more than you were meant to be."
Eon turned. A figure in a white hood stood over a console, hands dancing across holographic keys.
"Who are you?" Eon asked.
"I'm the one who designed your limits," the figure replied, without looking up. "And you've just started breaking them."
Static buzzed through Eon's head. The glitch inside him surged. He could feel memories that didn't belong to him whispering from the shadows of his mind.
Then Kael's voice pierced through the storm — distant, desperate.
"Eon, come back!"
Eon reached out, and the world snapped back.
Sweat on his brow. The gym. Kael's hand gripping his shoulder.
"What did you see?" Kael asked.
Eon swallowed hard.
"I think I saw the one who built me."